Alex Klassen, MSW, RSW

Letting go doesn't mean giving up control.

Letting go means noticing when your mind is judging or fighting how things are in this moment, and then making a shift¹.

We know how hard it is to experience chronic pain and symptoms.

Try to remember, if you're experiencing pain or symptoms, they're already here. If something difficult is happening it your life, it's already happening. If you're feeling difficult emotions, they're already occurring in the body.

Ask yourself, what's the wisest response I can lean into?

Pain and symptoms are like a "first arrow", Buddha would say.

Because the first arrow hurts so much, you may be fighting it, rejecting it, blaming yourself, avoiding things, attempting to fix, or obsessing over it. Our reaction means the first arrow leads to a second, a third, and so forth.

When our symptoms cause us to think negatively and function in a dysregulated nervous system state, it leads to the brain generating more pain and symptoms. It's a feedback loop. But this feedback loop can be stopped.

Mindfulness teacher and expert Tara Brach would say, "pain is inevitable, suffering is optional"² 

We can learn to let go and open up a whole new path. When we let go of how we wished things were, we reduce the suffering. We can respond more wisely to the sensations happening now.

Rather than getting hit with a second arrow, we can respond to the first arrow with safety messages, somatic practices, self-compassion, and specific actions that honour our values and needs. By letting go of one unhelpful response, we shift to a wiser one. One that restores safety in the body and mind. And when we repeatedly respond this way, we can reduce chronic neuroplastic pain and symptoms³.

This is what our course is all about. It's full of ideas, worksheets, and practices to do precisely this.

We hope to see you in there!

References

1. Kabat-Zinn, J. (2013). Full catastrophe living. Bantam Dell Publishing Group.

2. Brach, T. (2020). Working with pain: Summary of mindfulness strategies. https://www.tarabrach.com/blog-working-pain-mindfulness/

3. Ashar, Y. K., Gordon, A., Schubiner, et al. (2022). Effect of Pain Reprocessing Therapy vs Placebo and Usual Care for Patients With Chronic Back Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA psychiatry, 79(1), 13–23. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2021.2669